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Aldi also claims to be around a third
cheaper for a weekly shop than the ‘big four’ supermarkets – Tesco,
Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

Its products have won several prizes.
Wine sales are up by 90 per cent in a year, with the shelves stocking
award winners such as Champagne Philizot NV at £12.99.

Other best sellers include Minarete Ribera Del Duero 2011 at £5.49 and Baron Amarillo Rioja Reserva 2006 at £5.99.

Sales of Alcafe Rich Roast Ground Coffee – a Which? Best Buy winner – at £1.79 for 250g, are up 42 per cent in a year.

Aldi is part of a vast German-owned retail empire, which has enormous buying power and so allows it to keep a lid on prices. Above, an Aldi ad

And the supermarket has recently
started selling matured eight ounce Aberdeen Angus sirloin and rib-eye
steaks, with the sirloin at £17.57 per kilo compared with £24 at
Waitrose – a saving of more than 25 per cent.

Rather than selling cheap processed
and packaged products, Aldi has introduced fresh meat, fruit, vegetables
and bread. Its stores have relatively few sales staff, allowing the
company to keep costs and prices down. The supermarket also charges for
plastic bags.

Supermarket giant Tesco has ditched its 'Value' range and replaced it with 'Everyday' in bid to compete on price

Sales in the UK were £2.73billion in
the year to December 2011, a rise of 29.4 per cent on the previous year,
according to figures posted with Companies House this week.

Profit after tax was up 203.2 per cent
to £57.8million. Aldi is part of a vast German-owned retail empire, and
is running a marketing campaign based around the savings offered by its
continental brands against those sold by the big supermarkets.

The UK business is jointly run by
group managing directors Matthew Barnes and Roman Heini. Mr Heini said:
‘We’re now sourcing around two thirds of our core range from UK
suppliers. Consumers are attracted to Aldi by our brand-matched quality
products and keep returning to our stores when they realise their weekly
shop can cost around a third less than in the big supermarkets.’

Mr Barnes said: ‘Sales of our fresh
meat range have doubled, while fruit and veg sales are up 48 per cent
and bakery sales are up 40 per cent.

‘People are seeing the stand-out awards that we’re winning, such as Which? Magazine Best Supermarket of the Year.’

Aldi opened 29 stores in 2011 and will add 40 by the end of 2013, taking the total number of outlets to more than 500.

The company, which takes on graduate recruits on a £40,000 salary plus a company car, claims to be creating 4,500 jobs in 2012.

But despite the fast growth of the
company it remains a minnow in terms of grocery sales with a total
market share of just 4.1 per cent.